2009 Southland Conference men's basketball tournament

2009 Southland Conference men's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	2008–09
Teams	8
Site	Merrell Center Katy, Texas
Champions	Stephen F. Austin (1st title)
Winning coach	Danny Kaspar (1st title)
MVP	Matt Kingsley (Stephen F. Austin)
Television	ESPN2
Southland Conference men's basketball tournaments

2008–09 Southland Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
East
Stephen F. Austin †	13	–	3		.813			24	–	8		.750
Nicholls State	12	–	4		.750			20	–	11		.645
Southeastern Louisiana	7	–	9		.438			13	–	17		.433
McNeese State	5	–	11		.313			11	–	18		.379
Northwestern State	3	–	13		.188			11	–	20		.355
Central Arkansas	3	–	13		.188			10	–	19		.345
West
Sam Houston State	12	–	4		.750			18	–	12		.600
Texas A&M–Corpus Christi	11	–	5		.688			18	–	15		.545
Texas–Arlington	9	–	7		.563			16	–	14		.533
UTSA	8	–	8		.500			19	–	13		.594
Texas State	7	–	9		.438			14	–	16		.467
Lamar	6	–	10		.375			15	–	15		.500
† 2009 Southland tournament winner

The 2009 Southland Conference men's basketball tournament, a part of the 2008-09 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, took place March 12–15, 2009 at the Merrell Center in Katy, Texas. The winner of the tournament received the Southland Conference's automatic bid to the 2009 NCAA Tournament.

Format

The top eight eligible men's basketball teams in the Southland Conference received a berth in the conference tournament. After the conference season, teams were seeded by conference record. The first round match-ups were as shown below.

Bracket

	Quarterfinals Thursday, March 12					Semifinals Friday, March 13					Finals Sunday, March 15
	1	Stephen F. Austin	67
	8	Southeastern Louisiana	56
						1	Stephen F. Austin	63
						4	Texas A&M–Corpus Christi	60
	4	Texas A&M–Corpus Christi	79
	5	Texas–Arlington	72
											1	Stephen F. Austin	68
											6	UTSA	57
	3	Sam Houston State	74
	6	UTSA	83
						6	UTSA	57
						2	Nicholls State	55
	2	Nicholls State	80
	7	Texas State	75

All times Eastern.

Championship game

In the title game, Stephen F. Austin won their first conference title and clinched their first birth to the Division I NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship. Matt Kingsley, a fifth-year senior, led the Lumberjacks with 20 points in the 68–57 win over Texas-San Antonio. Kingsley was named the tournament MVP. The Lumberjacks also got 16 points apiece from Eddie Williams and Josh Alexander.

Devin Gibson led UTSA with a game-high 23 points. While the game was close throughout, SFA never trailed in the first half, and led 37–28 at halftime. They closed the first half on a 20–6 run that culminated with a three-pointer from Walt Harris. Despite Gibson's best efforts, the Roadrunners never got closer than five points behind the second half.

The Lumberjacks became the fifteenth different team to win the Southland Conference Tournament.^[1]

References

1. Championship game recap at Southland.org

External links

• Southland website
• 2009 Southland Basketball Tournament website